求助

我们在东岸有一个房子出租。每月定期电子付HOA fee. 人在香港。邮件托一个朋友管理。但是没告诉我们从去年年底HOA 涨了。所以每个月under pay 10-15块。HOA 给我们发了certified mails for the late payments，our friends signed and accepted these lettes but didn't pass the info to us. Now our case is handled by a lawyer + collection agent. He charged 800 for legal fee. 我们可以付我们欠的费用但是不愿意付800律师费觉得是敲诈。和律师negotiate 但是他迟迟不回答我们。court date 在一月8号。大家有什么好主意。谢谢。